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A review by yangyvonne
Little Beauties by Kim Addonizio
4.0
Diane has OCD - very badly. So bad that her husband, Tim, has left, tires of moving when she can't take her job of the moment any more. Them in walks Jamie, a 17 year old who gives birth to Stella, and changes Diane's world. In trying to help Jamie, Diane must deal with her OCD and Anthony is there, both to help Stella be born (who is the re-birth of his wife who had died from cancer(!)) and to help Diane begin to cope. The book switches from the perspective of Stella, Diane, and Jamie and ends without any resolution to anyone's story/struggle.
When I read that this was the author's first novel and that she was a poet, I was wary, but the style of switching narrators worked really well and it was obvious she had done her research on OCD. The only thing I didn't care for was the reincarnation or ethereal communication subplot between Stella and Anthony's deceased wife, Eva. It wasn't really essential to the plot and seems a little new-world for an otherwise modern story. I was glad to see the mother-daughter issues with Jamie and Diane get resolved.
When I read that this was the author's first novel and that she was a poet, I was wary, but the style of switching narrators worked really well and it was obvious she had done her research on OCD. The only thing I didn't care for was the reincarnation or ethereal communication subplot between Stella and Anthony's deceased wife, Eva. It wasn't really essential to the plot and seems a little new-world for an otherwise modern story. I was glad to see the mother-daughter issues with Jamie and Diane get resolved.